In our Monthly Film Series, we will show a variety of GERMAN or GERMAN language films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On the 2nd Wednesday of each month, audiences will now have a chance to see these films on a regular basis at the CLINTON STREET THEATER. (Children movies will be playing on Sunday afternoons – please check our website.) All films are with English subtitles.

WED. NOVEMBER 13, 2019 – 7:00 PM

Germany 2014, 93 min

Director: Johannes Naber

Cast: Devid Striesow, Sebastian Blomberg, Katharina Schüttler

Cut-throat business consultants Öllers and Niederländer travel the world without ever really seeing it. In advising companies on how to maximize profits, the two have managed to insulate themselves from the dangerous locations where they conduct business by never leaving their 5-star hotels. Models of ruthless efficiency, both hope to secure partnerships at their nameless company. When Bianca, a newly hired younger female consultant is sent to assist in the negotiations, her constant critique of her colleagues’ unscrupulous behavior with clients and hotel staff alike is unsettling to the executives, who pride themselves on their ability to remain emotionally disconnected. Confined within the walls of their hotel, the three protagonists reach grotesque extremes. The perfectly directed darkly comedic performances offer a timely critique of contemporary global economics. When the dangers of the outside world (experienced only through the occasional sounds of distant explosions or gunfire) find their way inside their hotel, the three models of efficiency prove to be incompetent.

Director’s Biography:

Born in 1971 in Baden-Baden. Johannes Naber studied Philosophy and Indian Philology at the Freie Universität Berlin from 1991 to 1993 and then Film and Media at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy. After completing his degree, he moved back to Berlin, where he works as a director and screenwriter.

Filmography:

2013 AGE OF CANNIBALS (ZEIT DER KANNIBALEN)
2010 The Albanian (Der Albaner)
2007 Der Zweifel (short film)
2005 Anfassen Erlaubt (documentary)
1999 Popstar (thesis film)

German Film Awards 2015

Winner Outstanding Feature Film (Bester Spielfilm) and Best Screenplay (Bestes Drehbuch)

Nominee Best Direction (Beste Regie)